Mainebiz

W W W. M A I N E B I Z . B I Z 17 D E C E M B E R 1 2 , 2 0 2 2 M A N U FA C T U R I N G resupply missions for the International Space Station. When it comes to chemical pro- cessing, proper and consistent solution maintenance is essential, says George Johnson, Silvex's director of operations. A significant challenge includes fine- tuning the configuration of the tanks in which the components are plated, in a way that ensures a uniform coating around and within the parts. "Making sure that the electrical distribution going into the tanks and the chemical solution itself are all in sync, with no hot spots or areas of weak circulation, is essential," Johnson says. "is fine-tuning is where the experience of our employees really shines and comes into play." Another challenge, he says, is the transition to aerospace participation in general, involving a much higher degree of documentation and material trace- ability through new shop floor control and lab analysis software and upgrades of numerous information technology hardware and communications protocols. Satellite support Greisen Aerospace, at Brunswick Landing, designs and manufactures sat- ellite ground support equipment, includ- ing specialized lifting hardware used by the aerospace and defense industries. Daniel Greisen founded the com- pany in 2014. In 2019, he delivered on a major contract with Boeing Satellite Development Center, a business unit of Boeing Defense, Space & Security, to build a ground-support fixture that can lift and manipulate the bus module, or bottom half, of a Boeing communication satellite called the 702MP. "is is a pretty heavy piece of hard- ware," says Greisen. "ey have to move it around to access various parts of the propulsion system." e challenge was to design a fixture that would grab the top of the module, which is about 13 feet in diameter and weighs about 5,000 pounds, and lift it up and down and spin on a vertical axis without risk of failure. e fix- tures are designed with strength and redundancy in mind. "What makes them interesting to design is that, although they're made of welded steel, for the most part — much like many pieces of machinery — they are designed to not have any place where, if one component were to fail, the whole thing would fail," he says. "We made sure that, if any bolt or weld failed, the fixture would still work." For example, there's a large screw that's key to moving the satellite up and down. Rather than the screw hav- ing just one nut, it has two. "e first nut normally does all the work," he says. "But if that were to fail, there's another underneath it to catch it. So there's a lot of redundancy built in." e Boeing plant in question is in California, so Greisen also designs for the possibility of earthquakes. "We have to make it stronger and make sure it takes a good sideways load," he says. Laurie Schreiber, Mainebiz senior writer, can be reached at lschreiber @ mainebiz.biz With three factories here in Maine, and one in Tennessee, Puritan is the world's largest and most trusted manufacturer of single-use specimen collection and sampling devices, serving multiple industries. Join our team! Visit puritanmedproducts.com/careers or call 800.321.2313 for more information. DID YOU KNOW? Puritan manufactures more than 1,200 products for use in the following fields: DIAGNOSTICS & SPECIMEN COLLECTION MICROBIOLOGY MEDIA FORENSICS & GENETICS ENVIRONMENTAL & FOOD SAFETY MEDICAL & VETERINARY CONTROLLED ENVIRONMENTS Puritan. ® Making products that work for you. P H O T O / F R E D F I E L D Daniel Greisen at Greisen Aerospace says redundancy is critical to the manufacturing of satellite ground support equipment. We made sure that, if any bolt or weld failed, the fixture would still work. — Daniel Greisen Greisen Aerospace F O C U S

• Cover